By MELISSA MEEHAN
ICE will be the biggest challenge for local police over the next few years – according to Yarra Ranges’ top cop.
Superintendent Graeme Arthur, who is the Victoria Police Divisional Commander of Division Two, which includes Yarra Ranges, Knox and Maroondah, spoke to the Mail exclusively last week about the crystal methamphetamine (ice) problem in the area.
“It’s (the ice issue) is our biggest challenge of the next few years,” Supt Arthur said.
“If we get rid of the ice problem, we would see a major reduction in crime.”
Supt Arthur said the same sorts of crimes were happening with heroin users when he was a young policeman in the 1980s and ’90s.
But the nature of that drug meant that users were often dopey and drowsy when they got their hit.
“Now ice has a totally different effect,” he said.
“Sometimes they are awake for five days and have a heightened sense of awareness and are alert and often are committing more crimes while they are affected by the drug.
“They are not only extremely aggressive but they have no recollection of what they have done or are doing.”
He said the ice epidemic was a driver for much of the volume of crime in the division, which included thefts from cars, theft of cars and other burglaries.
“Right across the division, there has been an 8 per cent rise in volume crime,” he said.
“The Yarra Ranges is up the same amount, and there is a reason for that.
“I’m not saying it’s ice for all, but we believe there is a direct link.”
Supt Arthur said the ice problem in the Yarra Ranges was no worse than other areas and that there had been dramatic increases everywhere.
He said that police were aware that Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs were responsible for a lot of the distribution and manufacture of ice and that’s why there was a concentrated effort by police to target these groups.
“We’ve done a lot of work on OMCG in the area, Kilsyth, Bayswater, and most would remember a recent raid on a licensed premises and gymnasium in Healesville,” he said.
“We also rely on information from members of the pubic, it’s not just a policing issue; it’s a whole of community issue.
“Our motto is ‘if you see something, say something’.”
The expensive nature of ice and the increase in crime has a direct link, according to Supt Arthur.
“It’s now costing users between $700 and $1000 a gram,” he said.
“This is why we have addicts breaking into cars and shops – they are selling anything they can get their hands on.”
He said because of the expense, one addict would, in effect, cause a mini crime wave on their own and mentioned a recent spate of thefts from cars in Upwey and Boronia that could be linked to drug use.
“Burglaries in cafes, car washes petrol stations and other small shops that might leave money in tills overnight is up by 15 to 20 per cent,” he said.
“It’s about anywhere they can get their hands on money and the general link to these is ice.”
Local police also discovered and arrested a syndicate last year in which ice was bought with stolen computers and iPads.
“We had over 100 school burglaries last year where they were stealing laptops and computers,” Supt Arthur said.
“Seventy per cent of these happened in the Yarra Ranges and we found that they were swapping computers for ice.”
While police are at the forefront, Supt Arthur said the community needed to work together in the fight against the ice epidemic.
“I don’t think the community understands how big the problem is,” he said.
“They are told every day about the road toll – but might not understand the effect of ice on the community.”
He said most people would know someone who uses ice or was affected somehow.
“We are not experts in getting people off drugs and relevant support services are under alot of pressure which makes it difficult to address the issues,” he said.
“Education needs to start at an early age.”
He said the drug can turn the most calm law abiding citizen into a psychotic rage.
And police know that even if they charge someone, if they are granted bail, often they will reoffend due to their addiction issues.
Addressing addiction will have an enormous impact on addressing associated crime, helping offenders turn their life around is the key.
“We recently charged a 34-year-old drug addict who has a 10-year history breaking the law,” he said.
“He had 381 prior convictions and has been in and out of custody throughout his adult life Offenders like him need to break the cycle.”
In the past, the road toll was a major problem in the Yarra Ranges, but the good work of local police and the Highway Patrol has meant that there has been a massive reduction in serious collisions in the area.
The hardest thing for Supt Arthur is to ensure that police focus on the ice problem but to also make sure other areas of policing don’t slip.
“We’ve got the Croydon Divisional Tasking Unit focused on clandestine labs and frontline police working on it, too,” he said.
“The introduction of PSOs has also been a great help as we’re finding a number of people travelling into our area from outside using the public transport network.”
Supt Arthur said while police processed a large number of ice traffickers, the availablity is so high due to the ease of manufacturing the drug tjay the void is filled quickly with others.
